The Incredible Idiocy Of Chetan Bhagat

Even though this topic has been done to death a million times over, I will write it since this man has been ticking me off for quite a while now. Now, the proper argument against CB haters is, ‘If you don’t love him, just don’t read his books. The man has sold so many books. Cut him some slack.’

Until, a month ago I too would subscribe to this thought, and ignore this man. But, there are things of his that I have seen in the recent past that have totally ticked me off. So yes, here are three reasons as to why I hate Chetan Bhagat.

Now, then Mr. Chetan Bhagat we did not call you a publicity seeker for fighting corruption, but we called you so because of the method in which you fought it. That is, fasting on the 8th of June. That too for the half of eighth of June. A purely idiotic thing made strategically in order to gain attention.

Also, if you want to fight corruption expose the corrupt. Or tell us the truth about the places in which you have seen corruption. Being a celebrity, you have the power to defame organizations. Be brave.

“Yes, hi, I’m Gautam Arora, and after eighteen wonderful years in Delhi, I’ve decided to end my life.”

Dear Chetan, This is another mark of very amateur writing. C’mon man, can’t you get a better hook than a bloody suicide. I know suicide’s are a sad thing, but by telling a story in this manner, you are purposefully making a dig at the Education System and not the personal life of Gautam Arora. Also, the reasons you have given for his suicide are not credible at all. I have read the story till midway, and instead of empathizing with the Arora guy, I feel angry at him. I don not think it is the education system’s fault if a person commits suicide if he doesn’t get into the top 3 colleges of Delhi.

That is why unlike good stories this one too wouldn’t work anywhere outside the realm of Indian students frustrated with the education system. If you can’t understand why I hate him for this, then never mind.

PS: Anyways, that’s it. Chetan Bhagat supporters can come out and argue. No name calling. I never said I am an intellectual, so don’t call me pseudo-intellectual. And most importantly, I have totally justified why I hate him personally.

198 thoughts on “The Incredible Idiocy Of Chetan Bhagat”

I know you said no name-calling, but I shall kick this off (before the lynch mob he has set upon you starts pouring in) by calling you Awesome. Thanks for speaking out against the blot on Indian Literature that is douCheBag. May the force be with you.

Thank you. That is the term I use while referring to him now, for fear of offending innocent bystanders who might just happen to share his real name with him.

Anyway, I think it’s fair to say the description I used is as accurate as they come, given his latest tweet:

‘Mothers give birth, but d coke belongs to d guy who puts the coin in the vending machine;)’

So there he goes, comparing women to vending machines. Don’t blame him though, he was only trying to justify celebrating Father’s Day. There may be many sick, twisted souls in our country who believe that celebrating a particular religious festival gives you the right to insult and denigrate other religions. douCheBag’s behaviour is in keeping with that spirit. Celebrate Father’s Day, insult mothers all over the world. Wouldn’t be fun otherwise. Not in douCheBagland, at least.

very interesting….
1. if a student blames system for his failure in exams.. he is to blame , not the system( which ofcourse produces good no of quality engg,docs ,entreprenuers… atleast at UG level)
2. It has become Fashionable to criticize govt and system for everything. Nothing is perfect and noone is perfect , so every system has its own faults( only thing is that it must grow and improve)
3. There are many wanna be iitans or frustrated youth, who only seems to love his (chetan’s work)
4. He thinks he is a big achiever , but it is not so. Entering IIT itself is not an achivement, but what u do there is.
5. bottomline is he is not a good engineer,entrepreneur,writer.. thats y he he is so sucessful in this confused country(read youth)

Couldn’t agree more. You may not like the man but there’s a reason he’s famous. He’s just got a different style. Given, he could be a little monotonous with his stories but they’re lucid and cater to the mindsets of many indian students. You’ve got a knack for writing yourself, maybe you could try indulging on different aspects rather than use your blog as a medium to vent!

U said u hv written many post but how many was read by the ppl. U also required to use the name of CB to get them read.IF u really hate him and u feel u r a better writer then write a book and try to sell it.

A very interesting post indeed. While I am indifferent to CB’s writing abilities, I reckon he writes for a particular audience rather than for a wider mass of people. & I personally see nothing wrong with that. Every author must have the liberty to write to his/her target audience. Your criticism for his writing most likely reflects that you wouldn’t be the author’s intended audience. Of course, you still have the right to express your opinion. But defaming someone just because you do not appreciate his/her work is unwarranted, in my opinion…

Naj (above) has rightly pointed about the target audience of CB. Definitely u do not fall under that audience. But u simply dont get it man, still u keep on saying u have other reasons…who cares if you do not want to read a story beginning with a suicide….. it appeals to millions…if it doesnt..to u…its just a matter of choice…so chill…and write something that atleast makes sense…

i know u wud surely have a dodgy answer for my reply as well……but in any case….u need to seriously get some life..:) good luck

I hate CB but agree with you. I was never a fan of his writing but I don’t hate him for that reason. Obviously he has a target audience who love his books. But Mr. CB should understand that he has a voice and stand among his fans and should be careful about what he says coz it carries to his fans. Maybe he should keep his shallow twisted philosophies and punch dialogues to himself and leave feminism to women. He is not doing any good in those areas.

I appreciate what u r Writing bt in a Bad Manner.. There is lots of thing u may Dislike, It doesnt mean that u r allowed 2 write whatever u r thnking.. i m nt a CB’s Big Fan bt i knw how 2 Criticise anybdy.. If u’ve writing power 2 Convince Ppl then write abt current Problms of Country.. Why u setting a target on CB.. CB has Done what he wanted to.. Now its ur turn.. Grow up with ur thoughts..

Lol ! Who is the writer of this piece ? Looks like some school kid complaining to the headmistress ! “Madam he got first rank but I am smarter noooo ?” What a kid ! And it was like 4 lines ! if this was on paper would have used it to clean something !!

Your other reasons are solely your own reflection of his acts/statements. Hardly conclusive of someone’s actual character I would say. Again, I am not trying to patronize CB here, just trying to have an un-biased discussion. No offence meant 🙂 We are after-all Indians, and we love to talk 🙂

Idk why people just can’t take him as a writer/author,there’s nothing extra in him which portrays him as a mentor/leader/etc. If CB thinks taking an extra step forward would attract hatred from some part of the country, then he’s actually seeing his haters (more in nos.) than followers. Bottomline is CB is scared (bheegi billi).

(1) Be brave. He is being brave. Tell me a second not political and celebrity ( or a person with something to loose publicly ) person who is so open and firm in his opinion. None I guess. (2) He is better than most of the celebrity tweeting right now. I hate you for using him for cheap publicity. (3) If none of the people you personally know have not attempted any suicide does not mean there are no people in the world who do not suicide over exam result. they do. find the fucking information first instead of using arbitrary logic.

Good comment. And, I didn’t use him for cheap publicity. I just blogged about it and he somehow found the link. Besides, he will be brave if he puts a corrupt person behind Jail. Not in pulling off a fast. Having strong opinions is not a virtue.

I know people do commit suicide over exam results, but then I don’t blame the education system for it. You should read properly and not make wrong assumptions.

If ppl do commit suicide over xam results .. Why only in India???
our education system brightly SUCKS ..
ps– his mentioning of suicide is a part of story .. to get attention n entertainment to readers ..
He IS brave.. unlike oder celebrities .. he’s bring social issues .. which has nothng to gain fame .. he has have enough fame n more fans den u can think .. dats y perhaps in most influential ppl of d country ..

Its a totally crap philosophy…!! We in India blame everything we feel helpless about either to the govt. or to the system…!! It would be appreciable if you do something about it rather than hanging yourself by a fan..!!
There are many people who will sit back and say “the education system is bad”…. but very few of them would make an effort towards improving it.

Hey sameer,frstly..very well written blog nd as per me..arguments if dne in a healthier way is good.
On ur frst comment..its nt abt him jst being a publicity seeker..its jst dat he is a knwn public figure nd if he supports a cause, he can actually garner public support wch we can’t nd regrdng his tweet, he was correct in his way coz dats wt da politicos hav been lashng across fr Mr hazare nd Baba.
Movng on to ur 2nd commnt..it ws ur personal take on it..so dnt hav smehthng to argue on..nd lastly as mentioned buy u dat da story on gautam takes a dig on education system..well dat ws his main agenda while penning dwn his thghts..gautam is a ficticious character nd nt da main hero..here da storyline ws our educatn system.

The writer of this blog post seems to be one of those frustrated people who could never achieve anything in life except some mean thinking about people who could. CB was in the list of Time Magazine’s normost influential figures. CB had been an IITian and IIMian which more than 99.9% of aspirants dream to be but never achieve. CB wanted to be a writer not a CitiBank or some MNC employee and he made it to the list of best selling authors in India. If you had things to do in your life, goals to achieve, aims to shoot at, you better had been working instead of criticizing. Get a life. Instead of wasting time on criticizing someone, do something better than him/her so that your soul will be thankful to you for not being like the one you criticized in the first place. By the way, the three reasons you posted were purely there to gain publicity for you. They aren’t some thing to say that someone is idiot. First one: He had his education in top institutes of India and now after over a decade he has enough experience and is qualified enough to put forward some valuable suggestions to improve the plight of Indian youth that is happening right in front of us due to those ugly head ministers and their vested interests. Second one: Don’t you watch TV? Aren’t you familiar with ‘If you don’t have an iPhone, well you don’t have an iPhone.’? Everyone gets a chance to brag. He is a celebrity that doesn’t mean he has lost all his bragging rights. Moreover, who says it bragging? It is truth. If you can’t think on your own I can’t help you. His statement wasn’t an offence like A Raja’s 1,75,000 crores. Better engage your time and (mis)creativity writing about those who deserve criticism. Just a simple help from my side: Digvijay Singh. Third one, whatever story he wrote happens in Indian society because of the pressure of expectations on bright students. In my locality, three years ago a boy committed suicide because he couldn’t crack IIT JEE. On the other hand he had a rank of under thousand in AIEEE. But being a 95 percent in 10th and 12th he was expected to be an IITian by the society. He failed and ended his own story. CBs story motivates such students that being an IITian or St.Stephensian isn’t everything in life. Being you is what is life for.

The writer of this post has made an assertion and substantiated it with reasonable arguments. In most of the replies I read here I saw people couldn’t accept how a blogger could critique a best selling author. Really? So I have to become something like CB before I can formulate an opinion on him? Do I have to make a movie myself before I can say that a movie I watched is good or bad? When a person of CB’s stature comes into the public limelight, everything they say will come under public scrutiny. They cant escape the brickbats that come along with the bouquets. So If you and I made a statement like the one he made on father’s day, we’d get away with it after a few hate replies but when someone like him, with lakhs of fans and followers says such a thing, it is a faux pas of the highest order. His fans will take everything he says to be gospel truth (as can be seen in the replies to this post) and not see the sexist undertone in the tweet. CB’s books are no masterprices, but they make for good reading because just like a typical bollywood potboiler it has all the elements of high drama, romance and tragedy. If you want to read a good book about the fractured identity of an Indian Youth, try reading Amitav Ghosh’s ‘Shadow Lines’, it won the Sahitya Akademi award and see how it matches up to CB’s books.
I personally feel Sameer has hit the nail in the head with this blog. Even CB’s articles in TOI sound annoyingly naïve and superfluous. Everything he says, must be taken with a pinch of salt, irrespective of how many paperbacks he sells every month.

Prab…thanks man, u saved me a lot of typing work . Was going through all the comments in search of one which cud pierce through Sameer’s head , and yours is apt ! Another thing , even after reading ur long, well elaborated comment the author of the blog s not seeing reason…and he calls CB over confident ! Ironic …

Dear friends, don t get fooled, this seems only another publicity stunt. Sameer bhai may be CBs agent or something thats why he is writing abt CB as giving him extra publicity. Another proof – Why CB is pointing towards this article in his Tweet ? Think over it before getting emotional !

And I don’t like the way he writes. Youngsters read him because they don’t have the patience to read Dominique Lappiere, Fredrick Forsyth or some real good Indian authors who are way better than him.

They just read him because it’s a one day affair and you don’t need logic to understand anything in it. And there are no take aways from it. And they read him because it is cool to read and discuss. Basically, he is the Himesh Reshammiya of Literature.

If you look into it more closely, you will see a majority of celebs in India do non-intellectual( read lame) work.
Sometimes it is limited by their own intellect, sometimes it is driven by smart personal choices. The CB books being bestsellers are like SRK’s movies being blockbusters, they are a consequence of Indian audiences’ taste. If we think it is the other way around, then we are fooling ourselves.
Chetan Bhagat could an intelligent man, he made the choice of feeding shit to people who are gladly ready to take it. He sells doesn’t he?
There is an abundance of artistic brilliance and talent in our country, but it goes unheard and unsuccessful, unfortunately. I would rather put the blame on our pathetic audiences than discredit someone who smartly took advantage of it.
I feel like puking when 100 people come and tell me that 3 idiots was path breaking cinema, but I don’t blame Amir Khan for it, I abuse those 100 people who made the movie a success!

Aey writer read your article.
First of all i need to tel you is, each man is different from other and they have the right to express it. CB is also expressing what comes to his mind and all. (U also)

The reasons which you pointed out to hate him is absolutely childish and it shows your childishness, if you really don’t like the person the why you followed him and listened to what he tweeted?? Ah? And you a inviting CB fans to argue!

I read in your bio “Always eager for a good argument.” if you are waiting for good arguments better you participate in any of the news channels news at 9.

What i conclude is you need publicity, for that you are choosing this type drama.

I advice you, if you really have the talent to write then write some good article and don’t spoil your talent by getting into cheap arguments.
Peace.

I appreciate sameer’s dare to represent his opinions here. There wud be few millions too saying so.
I would like this way of boldness by every person for every person. It will bring commonness amongst everyone. Everyone would be a hero and no one would remain zero. Just think!

I like his books and look forward to more books from him. But I hate his tweets, they are fake! Sometimes I feel his tweets have more fiction than his books! His holier than thou attitude sucks and sometimes through his tweets I feel he is trying his hand out to be a stand up comedian. Raju Srivastava beware!

well you make think him as a average writer but then he definitely made many people who never read a book other than a text read in that aspect i respect him and one think i agree is that he ain’t the greatest of the literature kind but then again no one is asking the english majors to read his books .

Well, Chetan might not be the most modest of guys but I do NOT think he does stuff as a desperate attempt to attract eyeballs. He just writes what he thinks and because he is popular, it attracts eyeballs.
Plus tweets like:
“If you don’t follow CB, well you don’t follow CB.”
Well, I don’t think they are to be taken seriously.

Hey Sameer,
I will straight away go to your three arguments.
1. CB was commenting on how govt not you for the simple reason how govt is dealing with everyone involved in current ‘public movement’ ( you may choose not to call it but that wont change it ) …talking about his 8th June fast … i think he did his part you find it a publicity stunt I think he surely motivated few followers of him to fight their rights by posting that he is fasting…n if that gets him publicity BE IT THAT WAY.
2.. very straight and simple u don’t like his thought your welcome not to follow him as simple as if u don’t like a colleague or class mate you don’t go out with them
3. His writing moves the largest age group of this country I am not sure which one do you belong to but certainly know that he writes in one of the leading news paper. he gives lectures in best mgmt colleges of this country ….so come one friend come out of your own cocoon of hate

1. I find your arguments valid unlike many others in this post. I am still not convinced about 8th June being a public movement when the whole public already knew about Ramdev and Hazare.

2. I don’t follow him on twitter. Read that tweet today only. And couldn’t help but cringe. If I knew that this post would receive so much traffic, I would have been more responsible and not pointed out that fallacy.

3. He may be successful, and may even speak sense sometimes. But, trust me his books are badly written more often than not. Now why they are badly written would be evident if you just google for Chetan Bhagat Plot Generator.

1…Many knew agreed but whats wrong adding lil more awareness, to tell u my side of story i live in a place where cable tv shows only drama news channle who dont show the actual news but for them ‘CG’s Chief Minister flying off from delhi to raipur in a routine trip is a breaking news 😉 hope that make u understand my point so I personally rely a lot on internet for updates …thus that tweet made me aware
2….hmmm great u went on reading all his tweets before writing thats a good sign of mature point of view but …that statment was very simple eat it if u like else leave it for others to enjoy 😉
3.I have read all his booksn few coloumns along with followed some guest lect. tas well as Aamir Khan Vidhu n Raju..n went on making the biggest hit of all time moreover passed on a great msg abt our education system and its result…one simple point CB is n IItian n IIM grad must ve had many MNc offering him positions abroad but he made his way to earn money n fame being in india unlike other counterparts of him (nothing against them though) …and wont you agree he is making sure to stay attached to common problems watever way possible and surely thats not blocking neone else from doing wat they think of doing 🙂

CB’s writing may be not-exactly-classic-material, but the fact remains that HE’S SUCCESSFUL! And how! If he’s vain, he has every right to be. If he’s confident, he has every right to be. If he initiated a fast on June 8, he has every right to do it – not only because of his fundamental right but also because he’s a person who can make a lot of impact.
I follow him on twitter – his tweets make me smile. They may be slightly vain …. but why shouldn’t they be?
His work caters to a specific audience. Which consists of half of literate India because we are not exactly into deep reading. Whatever be the reason & result, Chetan Bhagat is successful & I admire him for that. And it isn’t just luck – it took hard work! He actually got into both IIT as well as IIM … He must have slogged like hell. Need anybody say more? He’s enjoying his well-deserved success. People, let him enjoy it.

I did not know who Chetan Bhagat was until I saw his tweet about his fast on 8th June. Now I know that he has sold millions of books. What I liked about him was that he stands for people’s cause led by Anna Hazare. He empathizes with common man’s problems,
I am not sure what you stand for.
Like other so called writers,CB could have easily kept mum and supported the Govt. to get awards or favors in future.
But his stand with the people’s cause shows confidence in his writings .
Good on you Chetan!

Now, Talking about chetan. Lets face it dude. Its his way of connecting with people.

He ain’t fasting cos he is fat. He did it which became a twitter trend that day & many people joined him.

Nor is he looking to make money out of suicide cases Neither is he a Cheese Seller. The youth ( Future Oldies ) are being aware of the fact that %ages are not the end of life. Life’s a Marathon & U gotta reach the finish line @ Ur pace.

At least his words seem Interesting with a scene of humor which youth like. How many suicide articles people read written by well known journalists compared to one Chetan wrote which people remember.

Sameer, good job! CB is more than just an attention seeker. When his fishing gear and the sweet bait has “IIT-Delhi & IIM-Ahmedabad” inscribed on it in fine print. you would get followers like both the fishes and the houseflies.

ya folks…we shud suggest Chetan Bhagat to write (in his next book) abt a man (Sameer) who is frustrated with his own life..doesnt know wat to do abt it…so chose to discredit people who have made their way to success….:):):)

This is just another example for someone famous not even being able to breathe before some one comments. Just because he says something like sit and watch doesnt really mean that thats what he believes in man. That tweet was just out of exasperation and irritation at our leaders and our politics that all of us feel after viewing the daily news. He s written some great books man. His books are so simple and cool and affordable and are accessible to everyone. They are non intimidating and are also books with a really slapstick sense of humour. Everyone thinks you have to be all serious and vikram seth-ish to be considered an author but thats bull shit. Cb is making india read, and HOW! I know 11 year old kids who knew only to play cricket who ve started reading cause of him.

ya dude…i think u r coming near to that….after a couple of more comments…u will begin to think..that damn man..why did i right on the first place…Ashu is right…stop bugging….mind ur own business….go to some meditation center and BREATHE…:D

Good work, Neeraj. Whatever i am going to say will only add into his publicity. I don’t want that to happen though. Can’t help it.
No, i don’t like him too. Because i don’t think making storys would help India in any way. That story was a shit. I strogly feel that Chetan is not a knowledgeable person. What he does is, he picks up a hot topic, googles around it a little, and makes a story, applying his own stupid thoughts. You can’t get onto all aspects of a issue by googling! And he has a solution to all the problems that India is facing. How? His all writings have a reflection of short term study that he has done writing them. Did you read his today’s column on Baba? We all know what Baba has done. So why do we need CB telling us that Baba has blew it? Baba’s followers are not going to read it anyway. That should be enough i think.
I like the humour in his tweets however 😉

well, he had made a lot of money doing whatever the above you are saying that he does, so i guess it proves the point that he knows a lot more than what we do and even though he is vain, i guess most ppl just “get” him

Muh ki baat chinli apne!! Bhetan chagat is the spoils of a liberal democracy in the same club as dolly bindra or that sawant thng. I belong to the somewhat radical school of thought in litreture nd find it shame full that we actually buy millions of this soft porn that this intellectual mast ram writes.he is quite famous no doubt like silk smitha of south, but its heart breakng to learn the quality of books we are accused of enjoying. And let’s not give iit-iim a bad name. Millions dnt even a slightest idea what they do and let not a BC delude you!!

I’ve read all the comments and the article/tweets which you’ve written this blog on.

1. Try publishing your article or blog on any media which will connect you with the world directly (Like a newspaper or on TV). You will be seriously criticised. Even I would call you a publicity seeker or politically motivated(if i saw you on TV). I can even say that your very own cousins would say that!
saurabhgoswami has mentioned those tweets which would tell you that CB has fasted for more than 12hrs(as you WRONGLY said). He has fasted for 23hrs. A celebrity doing that is something great which has to be appreciated and not criticised! Even you cannot fast for more than 12 hrs against that person who asked you for a bribe to give you a driving licence!
You want him to defame corrupt organizations! Even if he does that, you(read CB haters) will say that he is doing it just to gain publicity!

2. A lot has been said and I feel that you have agreed to that point that he(CB) tweeted to make us(his followers) happy and not to “tick you off”. If you cannot understand pun or metaphor, you cannot understand pun and metaphor!!

3. The story! I would advice you to read the story completely and decide if you feel “ticked off”!!
It is the fault of the Education System for not creating top colleges lik SRCC! It is the fault of the government! Your blog shows how immature you are! If you don’t like or follow his way of writing, don’t follow it! Why do you even bother to read his tweets or articles and feel “ticked off”??

Don’t you think ignoring anger is better than exploding it like this?
Calm down! Don’t do things which make you angry! Try doing things which will make you happy(unlike this!)

P.S: You would be a very good “OPPOSITION LEADER” in our Lok Sabha! Give it a try!

I agree to this “Just like SRCC created itself, every other college should create itself. And just because a college is not on top, doesn’t mean it is not worthy of taking admission in.”
I would be pleased to tell you that this is what CB meant in his story! That was the reason for me to ask you to read the whole story!

I admire him for being able to connect with the masses through his writing/oratory skills. I am no good writer/orator so I cannot comment about his skills. I follow him for the same reason. In fact I used look down upon someone who does not like CB and his work. Of late I ‘personally’ find his tweets/posts childish and idotic to say the least. But I just thought that maybe he is going through a bad phase.

For starters, please put the comment box above the drone of comments, it’s a nicer format. But that’s just aesthetics and not a criticism.
Now to your points:
1. “being a celebrity, you have the power to defame..” – No. Quite the contrary. If you’ve gone through defamation laws and cases you’ll realise that celebrities and major news organisations are far more likely to get sued than people with a smaller following. In fact, CB could never sue you for defaming him on this blog (unless you’ve got way too many hits here) because you haven’t propagated it to enough people. Besides, I think you’ve clearly stated it’s opinion, although you come dangerously close to saying your opinion is objective. I think you’re still safe in that respect.
Besides, if you think he’s a bit of a douche-bag, surely you don’t want him tinkering with your education system. So that tweet should’ve made you glad.
Furthermore, you may very well not call him a media-whore for this, but a lot of people will. Your voice cannot represent all his critics’ (unless you have a weird sort of society obsessed with dissing him, which I severely doubt). It’s very likely that he’ll be called politically motivated and attention seeking if he does try to change the system. He isn’t wrong there.
But perhaps he shouldn’t care about what people say and stick to what he believes in. He should stand firm for his ideals, irrespective of the label people may attach to him. There again, you can critique him for not being strong or bold enough, but that’s being rather unfair. If he does take the step to change the system, you’ll have to praise his boldness. And if he doesn’t, you’re slamming him for cowardice. He should be given a fair middle ground. He’s tweeted about it, his followers (on twitter) hear about it, but he doesn’t get actively involved. I think it’s a fair middle ground. Should he not even mention it then? Not tweet about it? Does that make him ok?
2. “If you don’t follow CB, well you don’t follow CB” – to begin with, I’m surprised, what with you hating him so much, that you actually do follow CB. You can unfollow him quite easily you know. And not have a raised blood pressure whenever his tweet pops into your timeline. There are tons of people you could follow instead, from Stephen Fry to Hugh Hefner, take your pick.
Secondly, this isn’t ‘cheese’, it’s called being a bit ‘cheeky’. Then again, there’s a third point that makes it something else.
Third point (as referred to in the last line): The iPhone advert ends with the line “If you don’t have an iPhone, well you don’t have an iPhone”. It’s obviously a direct parody of that, his tweet that is. So he’s not being cheesy or cheeky, he’s merely doing a quick spoof tweet, for a laugh. My (quite possibly unwanted, and certainly unasked for) suggestion to you is to relax and laugh for a while. Some of his tweets are meant to be funny. And if you get the references they’re grand. They aren’t Miguel de Cervantes or Wodehouse, I admit, but they’ve a simple flavour of humour nonetheless.
3. It would be unfair to criticise or back you on this point because I haven’t read the story in question. Maybe you could tell me the name of the story and I’ll have a read soon as I’m free. For all I know, you may well be right about it.

I’ve made sure I don’t make it personal, and it’d be daft to make it so anyway. I don’t know you and I’ve nothing against you. You do have a right to your opinions, but if you invite an argument against them, well, you’ve brought it upon yourself.

Nice response Arya. As for the first point, I am just stating that he should not do such funny things that’ll make him trend on twitter. Also, when I wrote this post I didn’t think it would be tweeted by Chetan Bhagat. I am still amazed as to how he found out about it.

And besides, my problem with him calling a fast was not only because he wanted to contribute to the eradication of corruption by calling a half day fast. But, because he called it at a time when Ramdev thing was at its peak, thus making sure that
from then on every article on hunger strike that gets published will have his name.

As for the defamation thing, your response has been illuminating. But then, if Chetan has paid a bribe in some office it’ll be much better if he exposes that instead of calling a fast.

As for the second thing, I don’t follow CB. I just checked his timeline before making this post and also in order to get links to his tweets. The iPhone reference ticked me off because he is indirectly claiming himself to be a Luxurious Necessity like an iPhone. C’mon man, if a stupid man like that tweets something like that, then it’s bound to get you pissed. Maybe, I interpreted him wrongly.

The third story has been linked in the heading of the third point. I am pissed at the countless suicide references he’s made in his books. Also, 3 idiots had a suicide and an attempted suicide. CB is slightly desensitizing me to the topic by overload.

Also, I from now on will never ever tweet or blog about Chetan Bhagat. Lesson Learnt.

I’m glad you enjoyed my blog! I’m surprised you had the time to read it amidst this flood of comments.

About Twitter, I think many people are just getting used to it. They don’t really realise the power and impact of it. I’m a journalist and I know its great potential, but there are so many, even in my profession, who can’t quite get to grips with it, in spite of it being such a strong journalistic tool. CB, for all his intelligence (and we must allow him that), is just beginning to understand what he’s gotten into. His recent ridiculous tweet about Coke machines certainly added to that. But he comes up with some good stuff every now and then.

As for the fast-issue, I think you’re being a tad bit harsh on him there. While I do think a 23-hour (from what I’ve read) isn’t really a major thing (some religions have that every day for a month or so), at least it means he adds his support to the cause. Perhaps he should do it better. Exposing corruption would definitely help. But there’s always problems with that. In my 21 years in India, surprising as this might sound, I’ve never bribed anyone. And CB’s lived in Malaysia and whatnot for a while now. He’d need a recent provable example of bribing to support his cause. Again, if it isn’t provable, it could be defamatory. Defamation is a really tight law, unfortunately. But I’m with you on the fast thing. Although I don’t quite think he’s done it with the intention you think he’s done it with. We may well have to agree to disagree on that point!

My bad for inferring that you follow CB. Well, I do, and he’s not all bad. He’s got a few good tweets every now and then. But the iPhone quip was just meant to be that – a quip. He wasn’t implying that he’s a luxurious necessity (or a journalistic tool, which is what my iPhone is for me), but just using the catch-line. Again, you’ve been rather harsh on him.

I do agree with you on the suicide thing in 3 Idiots, but I thought it worked fine there. At least there was nothing of the sort in Two States (or I can’t remember there being. Too many books in my head!). But the suicide theme, when overdone, could lose its impact. That said, I think he isn’t trying to write literature or write particularly deep things. He’s trying to capture his experiences, mix it with a few education-based scenarios, and blend all that with some humour and tragedy and drama and make a story out of it. It isn’t particularly brilliant, but it’s fairly readable. For a person who likes to read everything I lay my eyes on, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t grand either. It was somewhere in the middle. And I’m fine with that. It’s ideal for a hindi movie script (duh! it’s already a hindi movie), and for some quick reading, but it’s not the literature that’s particularly wonderful. What I think is really good about his books though is what it makes me do after reading it. I get thinking about the education system and the state of my relationships and my friendships and I reflect on all that. That doesn’t happen when I read Agatha Christie or Dan Brown or even William Shakespeare. And that is what I really like about his work. And also why I read them (apart from the fact that I’m a book-aholic).

Then again, that’s such a personal reason to like his work, and may not be true for everyone.

Finally, to conclude an essay-like post, I’d just like to add a couple of things about your blog:
1. It’s really really good. I read some of the other posts and you’re a grand writer. Keep that going. You’ve a grand knack for writing.
2. CB has only given you more readers (like me) via that tweet. Take the support, analyse helpful criticism, and throw away the randomly insulting comments. I bet CB does that too!

Well written & researched article .. Sameer .. Whats your twitter handle dude ?
Anyone who’s read literature .. Knows that CB is a below average writer .. Only thing is the current genX also is of his level .. So he sells ..

At times I’m amazed .. how literates call themselves educated ..

I have read 5 Point Someone & 1 night @ a call centre .. I did not buy it but my daughter did ..

I would never buy CB having read entire works of Shakespeare , Dickens .. Doyle .. Premchand , Agatha Christie & P.G.Warehouse .. As well as more than 400 Mills & Boons ..

I find buying his books below my dignity ..

As regards him and Arnab Goswami .. Those who haven’t built a college , organised a kabaddi match talking shit about IIT / IIM / SRCC / CWG / CORRUPTION ..

Look how Economic Times Blatantly sells a shitty iPhone with ads and articles .. When I on a nokia E63 do anything ..

Ok I have 556 followers & he CB over a million .. But then why does Anna Hazare or Sri Sri Ravi Shanker .. Or Kapil Sibal listens .. When I Tweet media channel .. Supporting army killing Maoist stop .. Army chief gives a statement that Army is to Protect its citizens not to kill them ..

I can win an election .. CB can’t PERIOD

Because I do what I talk .. Writing crap & selling to low IQ people touching there emotional chords is Psychology not Literature .. CB is using what he learnt @ IIT on Twitter & Bwahaha ” Chetan Bhagat Book Generator ”

CB is using his IIM degree to sell & market his books .. Which are no different from an IIT IIM grad working for a iBank / Ad firm / market research / or Lalita jee… Ka surf ..

I don’t wish to offend, but when you say, that our generation is of below average kind, why exactly do you put that your daughter buys those books?
I mean, I would consider it pretty rude, considering that in all this, your family is being degraded by you only.

Saying this, I would also say that, he never says that your iit/iim has to go like that. He just puts in a work of words and says that something like this happened to 3 fictional people.
Dude, my dad, is an iit passout and my brother, an iim passout.
I know enough of this. (lets hope someday i make it big too ;))

Anyways, coming to the point again, really, the taste of books have changed over generations and is different in different people.
Why do I read chetan bhagat instead of shakespear?
Because i can connect more with today’s youth than immortal romeo juliet.

Saying that, i have no wish to hurt any of the people who have made a mark in our literature field but just want to convey, that if you hate him, its okay. But really, no need to be so anti-Chetan Bahgat.

Sir, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I would like to mention that not everyone who reads shakespere has to be the most brilliant person on earth, people may like CB’s books just because they are an easy read and he can connect to his clientele – which is students. And well if you really think he has the potential to sell the so-called “shitty” books to millions of people, then i guess you should applaud him for his business mind, rather than rant about it!

I m sorry Sameer because i really didnt understand how u justified your personal hatred for CB. Is it because he got the young youth together to fast against corruption, not to mention like gandhi n anna? Or is it because he doesnt care if u follow him or not n u expect him to use tactics to follow him( u kno like u said , trying to be publicity seeker). its really not clear. well, about his book, u have all the right to have your opinion but not on behalf of other million readers.
N ya, i m no intelectual or pseudo- intellectual( what ever that means) but u seem to be contradicting yourself.

It is not because he got the young youth together to fast against corruption. It’s because he did it at a time, when anyone who wanted to fast could have gone and joined Baba Ramdev. He just provided them with an easier alternative of fasting for just a day and thus becoming popular that ways.

I guess what caused sameer’s irritation is that CB tweeted ” If you don’t follow CB, well you don’t follow CB.” well man, accepted that he can be vain, but that is no reason to rant against this guy who has a million followers despite that comment.

After reading all d comments, i hv come to d conclusion that yea he is a publicity seeker, but i dont find it much wrong till he uses cheap jokes to make his tweets discussion agendas.
I follow his twitter just because i find it more intrsting than reading other big names of literature(he is not to be considered one).
I will love to read more like this, where can i find ur blog?

Congratulations, your post made it to the top posts on WordPress! Now more people get to read it, and hopefully the message will hit home hard.

Another round of applause for tersely and correctly finding out the fake-opportunist-wannabe Bhagat, who tries so hard to act ‘concerned’ and talks so much about ‘bringing about a change’ bullshit that it makes you cringe. I’m glad that there are more and more people beginning to see through this phoney charade.There is only hot air in his words, but he can never come up with anything more than brainless romantic trash for the youth.
.
If you wish to, please read a related post about him that I’ve posted on my blog (http://iamwriteherelol.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/5-authors-you-must-read-before-you-die/).

Thanks Sachin! I am absolutely delighted to know that this post is now one of the top posts on WordPress! 😀

And yes, I loved your post. Not just the section on Bhagat, but on others too. Bhagat though, takes the cake as the most hated. I’ll get back to reading the other posts on your blog once the hype of this post dies down and I get to have breathing space. 😀

I would tell YOU GUYS(who hate CheBhg) this is really idiotic isn’t it? You really hate him but making him star, giving him attention, if he does not deserve that why YOU GUYS making issue on him. Let him as he is.

As much YOU GUYS will post idiotic chapter that will increase his fame character.

Should I say to attract people to this Blog,the only person who has made it possible is HImself Chetan Bhagat….Am not grtst fan of his,but love to read his books & this was sulky according to me just bcoz he has more followers then U on Twitter doesn’t make him worse…Remember Words….Dude if u hate him Y do u care for his so-called Uttered tweets…Thinking Cap lagao Yaar pehle read again am not his most ardent fan

1) Well, just say, we believe that Chetan Bhagat really is seeking attention then, dude, your crtisism and all this posting, is really offering him a lot of that.
Our constitution, grants us, public, many a methods to protest too.
Why don’t you, sameer, take the responsibility of exposing, on your head and let that dude, write whatever he feels like.

2) Well well, he is confident.
Why shouldn’t he be?
He is one of our most recognise authors and trust me, probably has more people loving him, than you.

3) You don’t like the story, then don’t read it. Simple as that. No one, is really forcing you to read and then put in your useless critisism.
I mean, come on dude! grow up!
Even I am not his biggest fans, but yeah, I like reading his stuff.

Okay for instance, say J K rowling. How the hell did some magical world suddenly come up between the pillars of london?
I mean, isn’t a student sucide, specially after the srcc 100% cut off, much more realistic?

Thanks Binnie.
I really feel that people should realize that its very easy to find the negatives of anything but harder to reach the positive side.
If someone finds him really so useless, then probably you should do something more concrete than this. Prove that there are people with more caliber, perhaps?
Criticism, to some extent is Okay. In fact it helps the author to reach out to people in a better way.
But here, it has become a platform for people to say nasty stuff and pull CB down when they themselves, MAY NOT be be as recognized as that 😛

Really, we could do with a few more positives thoughts in the society guys.

There is a famous saying that goes like this- “Never pay attention to critics, remember there has never been a statue set up in the name of a critic”
I am adding another line to that one “Never pay attention to critics, remember none ever made it to the list of 100 most influential people on the planet”…
Hindi mein there’s another one that explains basically the same thing “haathi chale bazaar, kutte bhaunke hazaar”….

CB smartly diverted the infamous attention he is getting at the moment to you Sameer! Kuch bhi kaho; that man is a street smart ‘hit & run’ kinda person which clicks with his followers. Meanwhile you enjoy the attention that you are getting!

Wow! 100+ comments on Narratively Yours. That has got to be a record. It is interesting to see how some topics get more underserved attention than others. CB is an author and writes about everything and anything but I don’t think he can change the World or India in anyway. I hope people who have visited your blog don’t judge you on this post and do read some of your other wonderful posts.
I admire how you have been facing everyone head on, though you might be enjoying the attention 🙂

Hahaha! Thanks Maya. It is a record, most definitely. A record I am afraid which will be very tough to break. I know this is just my 15 minutes of fame, and I’ll eventually be back to the grind. Should enjoy while it lasts. 😀

I too think that this was not such a great post, btw.

And yeah, it is fun fighting for a while, but gets irritating when you have to answer every comment with the same response. 🙂

But, there is no way I am complaining! It is most definitely the highest point of my blogging journey so far. 🙂

I fail to understand the brouhaha going around Chetan Bhagat as if he’s some sort of an authority. Really, if four pathetic books can make you God, I must start typing rightaway (but oh, I can’t do pathetic books- rights reserved and meant solely for CB!)

The columns he writes for TOI are proof of his madness. You can’t just sit and type shit about the government all the time. And the whole fanbase he has makes me puke.

Its the whole books-gone-to-dogs thing. The publishers are ready and willing to chaapo anything as long as they get 50 bucks per book (I will NOT call them novels) and the wannabe story-makers (NO. I WILL NOT CALL THEM AUTHORS) 20 bucks. There are hordes of such people, getting stuff published and calling themselves authors. But I’ll reserve that frustration for later.

Point is, all his books are the same. Chauvinism to no end and someone trying to end their life. And the short-story he wrote, sucked to the core. I mean, that guy has no reason to die. But dude, its CB writing it. Someone ABSOLUTELY HAS to die, right?

But I’m glad you wrote this, Sameer. For one, its been quite sometime since I indulged in CB-bashing. Thanks 🙂

Read your replies, they are no-nonsense replies. So here’s mine. Just to discuss your first point, you seems to have a problem CB fasting, and using it for publicity. Can you answer below questions?

1. Can you prove that he did it just to get publicity ? If you cant prove, you are making just an assumption here. And..”assumptions are dangerous”

2. With his fasting (its not half day fast, if you read his tweet properly) he has shown several youngsters like me that we just cant sit and watch, when someone is fighting for a cause. He himself created a small movement. The people who did a day fasting today, tomorrow you can expect more from them, if not less. He just tried to do his bit to support the good cause. What you been doing from your part to support the anti-corruption campaign?

3. You expected CB to expose a bribe. Lets say tomorrow he exposed one. Do you think there will not be any Sameer2, Sameer3s to again pull his leg and criticize for not focusing just on his writing. Yes or No ?

History has proved, whoever has tried to make a good change, NONE of them spared. Life needs both white and black colors. Thats balance. Thats the fact of life.

Nice reply Neel. I cannot prove that Chetan did it to get publicity, but looking at the controversies he puts himself in from time to time one can’t help but think that he enjoys the attention. Yes, if CB exposes a bribe there could be people who will say that he is doing it for publicity, it has become a hazard for him.

What he has done for youngsters, is provided them an easier alternative to fasting as compared to Baba Ramdev. The youngsters of today if they are so worried about corruption, should have joined Ramdev or Hazare. Why do they need a new leader?

Thanks for honest reply and your thoughts. Well, your are still due on my second question. “What you been doing from your part to support the anti-corruption campaign?”. I hate it when someone makes a negative assumption. You could not prove CB had a wrong intention. If you think so, you are very much welcome to have a re-think on your initial thoughts, correct it and announce it.

I dont think CB trying to become a new leader. He is leading you to those leaders. People, you need to appreciate it, rather than making attempt to silence a voice. Criticism of opinions are always welcome, but please dont make it at personal level.

Sameer, dude, great post! One thing that really gets my goat is the legions of CB fans out there who justify he’s a great writer BECAUSE he sells so many copies of his books! It could also mean the majority of his readers have never heard of Rushdie, Hitchens, Orwell or other great authors. Some say that CB is the first author they’ve read in English literature. Proudly. Yikes, that just sent a shiver up my spine.

tell me why are you so bothered with his life?..why can’t you just mind your business maan!…how can somebody just hate someone else? and just take every word as the other thing which is not really what he is trying to speak!…Get it in your mind that you hate him for no reason and yes that is why you feel whatever he writes is crap! and a show off…Or may be your probably so jealous~..!…sorry i hate yur post!…

people like you cant love him but cant ignore him. I would like to know your twitter name to see if you follow him because whether or not you’re concerned about his tweets. Call it sheer vellagiri to sit down and write and give so much importance to the person who you dont like or simply call him idiotic is an idiotic move on your part. Dude, get a life! Okay supposedly, if you dont like him, you just dont like him and asking people out here to argue and telling them what went wrong with your admiration for him is also a part of what you wrote about him claiming to fake fight against corruption. you the man is not the only one who can voice opinion. I say just go out and write a book. We’ll see how inspired you sound in that or for that matter how good are you at explaining and telling stories to reach out to the masses!

thanks but i have no interest in such clarifications. Just forced myself to comment cuz you are so eager to let yourself be a LOL stuf!!

The so called reasons f yours for hating CB seem to be all in you. You are the one who is looking for “attention” by criticizing someone popular on illogical basis.
Read the whole cutoff article.He made fairly valid point reg. growth in number of standard educational institutes in India.

Stop following him and commenting about him if u r a hater.Do constructive. Stay Happy.

I don’t follow CB or read his books, because I think they are rubbish. But I did like the short story on education. For this reason – His books are popular because he writes a simple idea in a simplistic form. That is the very reason I don’t like them. But if you wanted to get a message across, that is the best method. While I’d never pay to read his books, I’m glad he wrote this story because there are a few essential ideas that he is spreading – such as, the brand of the school shouldn’t matter so much; it’s important to have a life; we need a lot of improvement in our education system.

About the shortcomings of the story – You made an interesting point about the guy intending to commit suicide is not the education system’s fault. I’d say it is at least partially society’s fault for making him think his life is not worth living if he can’t get into the top school. Also, I think the fault with the government is that they have not invested in the teaching apparatus – training teachers, updating syllabi, etc. – which he didn’t bring out in the story. Made it look like it is a simple matter to just build more schools.

Chetan bhagat himself retweeted this link to show that he has heart to face the criticism. There is nothing great in his writing but the reasons given here were not good enough either. what ever be Chetan’s writing class but he is a good human being with good nature and that shows here which made this blog post so popular.

when an advertising company says “if you dont have an iPhone, well you dont have an iPhone”, ppl slurp it up to the last drop and make a beeline to the stores; so what if CB says? at least he can say it and carry it! agreed his writing has now become a l’ll cliched, but hey man! even now Karan Johar sells! moreover you arent writing about his writing at all!

Few reasons y i like cb…..(1) hes real….wat he does ..he does his way…doesnt care for wat others think….he writes his tweets n his blog..n if it might b publicity seeking…..i wonder how u fell to his tricks and wasted your time explaining the reasons which no one bothered to ask….
(2) What he writes is his style….what u call amateur writing is what has touched Indian hearts…his stories r read by ppl who never even imagined of readin novels someday….
(3) Hes successful hence, hes confident. Not a jealous attention seeker as u are.

Indians are pretty emotional, ain’t they? Whether it’s the legion of Rajnikanth or our politicians, the die-hard, fanatic fan following just can’t take it when you dare to criticise their idols. No wonder, we are essentially a Banana republic where emotions run high and logic takes a backseat. Going by the adverse comments here, our hypocrisy and blindness becomes even more prominent.

The matter was as simple as this. Sameer owns a personal blog where he has written plenty of interesting stuff and this particular post is one among many. Bud, you write good. You are fluent and have got bloody every right to express whatever you want.

Someone said, the true maturity of a nation/persons is reflected from their ability to handle criticism and sadly, that way, we are a bunch of morons. I dont know the reason behind why Mr. Bhagat tweeted this post but yes, if he wanted to check his popularity and stupidity of majority of the population then yes, he has got every reason to feel happy.

To me, he is a writer, limited by his imagination and ability. Five Point Someone was effective because it helped in escalating book reading habit amongst Indian youths to a certain extent but that’s that. In stead of evolving, he has become the new David Dhawan of Indian literature. Dishing out rubbish and lecturing us how to improve nation. But, jo dikhta hai wo bikta hai!

Enough said! well written Mate. Remember, bad publicity is best publicity!
Cheers for having an opinion and expressing it effectively!

dude… dnt read his books… thats ur wish… but im sure half of india reads it…
we all love it… thats ur view of his books… and he is recognised baby… so just move on… NO OFFENSE though… sorry if im rude… but seriously,,,

Ladies and Gentlemen and Riyanka. The topic is closed. The war is over. Everyone has a right to support or Not-support the writer. No one will win this war, how ever long all this may continue. Please Stop.

i read 3 mistakes of my life and i hated it!! His novel is not realistic and the facts are wrong!! This book had way to much dramatic ending and i don’t like the way he writes at all!!! If he so keen in writing in exactly hindi style why doesn’t he write in hindi????

Look, I think you’re missing the point here. The reason you hate him seems more personal than general to me. Anyways, I’ll tell you why I like CB. Once in an interview, he said,’While I was in a taxi in Delhi, the taxi-driver told me,”I read one page of your book everyday.” That is the change I wish to see in India.’ And, man, was I impressed. In today’s globalised world, where English is such an integral part of everyone’s life, encouraging reading of any sort is really important. Because, as it is, people don’t read now-a-days. And for a taxi-driver, being acquainted with English may mean being able to have a foreign passenger. Well, I’ll move on. I am and will be eternally grateful to the guy for making me read. Not only me, he has made India read. Had I not picked up 2 States four years ago, I wouldn’t have been as ardent a reader as I am today and wouldn’t be enjoying Jane Austen(my favourite), Gillian Flynn(again, my favourite), Nicholas Sparks, R.K. Narayan, Arthur Conan Doyle, Dan Brown and many more. And I enjoy reading his books too. Sure, I think the language is too simple and I may sometimes even point mistakes, but he isn’t an English graduate. But I enjoy his stories. I can relate, you know. If you’ve read 2 States and are a Punjabi, you may know that every single word and detail that he has explained in a light-hearted and humorous way is, indeed, true. Casteism is deep within us. And the book forces you to think. And this thinking takes you to a whole new level where you start exploring. I can say that because I have experienced it personally. The reason I’m open-minded is because I read. If not for reading, I would have remained an ignorant 17 year old and would not have been able to rise above the stereotypes I am surrounded by. And a large chunk of the Indian society is like me. The passion is latent(for whatever reason) and somebody has to bring it out. His books, speeches, articles encourage people like me to come out of the four walls of the house, be aware. Again, I love reading the newspaper but there was a time I wouldn’t touch it. The day I came to know that CB has an article every two weeks in TOI, I started picking up the paper, looking through the pages, just to read his article. And then I started loving it altogether. I hope you get my point. I think Cb, and in fact every writer, every artist deserves respect and not disgust because they are giving something to the society. They are making it a better place to live in. A person only deserves hatred if he/she takes something good away from the society or spreads negativity. And I don’t thing CB does either one of them. I have presented my arguement, to agree or not to agree is up to you. Everybody should have an opinion. You have yours, I have mine. And I respect yours. Thank you for reading my point of view. I would be happy if you replied, whether you agree with me or not, and also the reason(in both cases). Thank you again. 🙂 PS: People do commit suicide over marks. I would have exclaimed “How?” a few moonths ago, but now that I have appeared for the Boards myself, I can understand how.

Man..eff CB. Just passing by this post, wanted to hate just for the love of hating. Eff CB, F everyone who thinks he’s good. Yeah includes all of CB’s b**ches. I support this post. People who think that the writer of this post should write something about the problems of nation, why for? He ain’t living for you. He wanted to write it, he did. And people who said this guy is not anywhere near CB who is selling millions, well those people should just keep hanging on CB’s n*ts. CB is a bad representative of Indian journalism globally. He’s making good money, good for him. Not gonna expect any appreciation, nor am I gonna use some next level vocabulary (as I see a lot of people do, maybe makes them feel good) simple words: eff Chetan Fagat

Well educated from so called premier institutes. As usual, went out of country like “educated fool with money in the mind”, earned well and back to India for saving literature, wrote 3rd rated books with erotic scenes (one night at call center, 3 mistakes of my life, and more), many comments in some books about others states of India as if he is representing India, now started funny books like “what young India wants”, started to write cinema script books, also will continue to write more toilet paper books, being back end for some parties, .. many more stupid things will happen as long as person like him appreciated by other educated fools. This person is just another fool icon for fools. I think better not to waste time.